Broken Hearts Can Survive
by Bren Gail
Summary: The absolute worst place for someone suffering from a broken heart was at a wedding, especially when the breaker of that heart was invited, and he had brought a date. However, Penelope learns a secret from a man who would know…broken hearts can survive. Penelope Garcia/Dave Rossi. Mentions JJ/Hotch, Morgan/Strauss, Emily/Reid, Kevin/Unnamed, Will/Anderson. Please give it a shot.


The following prompts were used:

_Prompts given by the brilliant Bones Bird: pink and purple flowers and a rock concert._

_Prompts given by the wonderful whiteswan: Helping the dinosaur master some 'intricate' piece of modern technology._

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**Broken Hearts Can Survive**

_Penelope Garcia/Dave Rossi_

_For Sunnyinoregon_

The absolute worst place for someone suffering from a broken heart was at a wedding, especially when the breaker of that heart was invited, worst of all he had brought a date. The urge to demolish David Rossi's credit score and electronic identity had never been as pronounce as it had been upon realizing that Kevin Lynch had not only been invited, but also encouraged to bring a plus one. Penelope Garcia wanted to wreck it to the point where even she could not ever recover it. How dare he invite her ex-boyfriend! How dare that ex-boyfriend bring a date to _her_ best friend's wedding? Then to ask her to dance, just when it was the only opportunity of the night thus far, for her to dance with the host, the man responsible for pulling just the right amount of strings together for this fairy tale wedding to happen, the man she currently wanted to strangle. The dance between her and Kevin was worse than her first dance with the first boy she had ever danced with at the school dance celebrating her sixth grade class graduation. That dance with a boy named Luke had been atrocious and awkward. Even though, she was angry, so angry at Dave, she was angrier at herself, for feeling so betrayed by Kevin, so hurt by Kevin, so broken hearted over Kevin. Her mind knew that she should not waste any more time or energy on her ex, but her heart felt differently. Her heart felt broken and it needed time to heal itself, in an odd way, being angry and hurt, helped her heal, or at the very least deal.

The ceremony had been beautiful, impromptu yet beautifully classical, and romantic. Who knew Dave Rossi was such a romantic. She sighed, melancholy, not wanting to think of him, because she was mad at him, but truly, who could stay mad at the fine specimen long? She shook her head to jar that train of thought out of her head, because that thought would lead to others that were not appropriate for her to think at all, let alone a wedding, at his home. She scanned the dance floor and smiled when her eyes landed on the newly married couple. She sighed, melancholy, and just a tad envious that JJ had finally found her Prince Charming, but glad she had, and more so relieved that it was their Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner. Both deserved all the happiness in the world, the blended family that they would create, was something all four needed desperately. Henry and Jack had adjusted easily to their respective mother and father dating, they were now ecstatic that they would officially be brothers, a family.

She openly laughed as her eyes landed on her genius friend, Spencer Reid, who was entertaining both Henry and Jack with magic tricks. Emily, not too far from Spencer's right, actually closer than what normally would be considered appropriate to Spencer's personal bubble, was oohing and ahhing along with the two young boys. Penelope was glad that Spencer and Emily had finally worked out their issues over Emily's faked death. Their relationship was not where it was before Emily had died, but it was slowly getting there. Penelope had hope that love would conquer any residual doubts or hurt feelings.

Penelope arched an eyebrow, but still smiled when her eyes landed on her best friend, Derek Morgan. He was slow dancing, almost sensually slow, with Section Chief Erin Strauss. Penelope had wondered when the couple would become public, although dancing at a wedding, many would think was hardly an announcement, but it was when the individuals were Derek and Erin. It still seemed somewhat strange to Penelope to think of her and address her as Erin, after all, she had spent years thinking of her as Strauss or the she-devil. Her brow furrowed in concentration, smile faltered in favor of a tilted straight line, not quite a smile, or a smirk, something in between at remembering how it had taken her friend a long time to admit his feelings for their Section Chief. It had taken him discovering her battle with alcohol for him to do something about it.

Penelope took a sip of expensive champagne and savored the flavor of it as she watched the object of both her most secret fantasy and current rage fiddle with his smart phone. She found it both adorable and endearing that Dave was quietly arguing with it and holding it as if he was strangling it. However, when he started swearing in Italian at it, was when Penelope decided to assist her irritated Italian Stallion. She placed the almost empty glass of champagne on the bar that the catering company had erected and walked the few feet to him.

She placed her hands over his, which held the smart phone and immediately she felt several tiny sparks jolt through her hand and up her arms. Her mouth parted, surprised. For several seconds, her heart beat faster than a drummer performing in a rock concert did. The sensation made her forget that she was supposed to be angry at him. He felt the same sparks, though he was successful in not indicating that he had. He thought it promising that she had felt it, too.

"Do you find this amusing?" He asked, his eyebrow arched and his lips forming the start of a smirk.

"Maybe," She answered coyly. "Maybe not."

"You're going to make me ask," He replied, pretending as if asking for her help would be a hardship. "Aren't you?"

"Yep." She grinned, her eyes sparkling the first time that night.

"Ms. Penelope Garcia," He playfully addressed her, "Will you do me the honour of showing me how to access this elusive app?"

"Why, I would be honoured, kind sir!" She playfully asked, in return, as she held her hand out for the phone, "Which app do you need?"

"Whichever one that can send Aaron the info on the honeymoon package that my travel agent arranged." He answered, handing her the smart phone, though making sure that his fingers barely, just so, trailed over hers. Her breath hitched at the innocent and unexpectant contact. He inwardly smirked, his facial features not relaying that he knew exactly what he was doing and what it did to her. "She sent it to some account she created in some app." He shrugged, "I don't know. What I do know is that I paid her good money for her time and the nine-day trip to Tahiti for two. It's a good thing that Will and Anderson are keeping the boys, 'cause there isn't a lot of kid-friendly things at the reserved resort." He sighed, "Why couldn't she have given me hard copies of what she put together?"

Penelope smiled at his unhelpfulness of which App, his generosity to Aaron and JJ for the honeymoon that must have cost more than just 'good money,' but most of all she smiled at his helplessness over something as simple as a phone App. Superman wasn't so Superman when it came to Technology. She had found David Rossi's kryptonite, something that she was Queen Supreme; it felt good to have something over on the man that very few had anything on.

After perusing all of his Apps, most she was sure that he did not realize he had, before finally locating the App of one of the more expensive travel agencies in the world. With a few taps of the fingers to the touch screen, she was in his account; her eyes bulged at exactly how much 'good money' was.

"Here," She said, her voice betraying her awe at how much he had spent on their friends' honeymoon.

He put his hands up denying the offer of the phone, "Nuh-uh," He muttered, before he turned the charm on her, grinning at her, and giving her a look that no woman could deny him anything he wanted, "Could you possibly send it to Aaron's phone?"

She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes as she realized that had been his plan all along. She could not help, but think she had been set up, that he had purposely been in her radius, when he had 'attempted' to access the App.

"I'm doing this for JJ…and for Hotch," She stated, giving him one last playful glare, before she sent the information to Aaron's phone.

He plucked two flowers from the bushel of flowers on the table behind her to her left. He quickly and efficiently twined the stem of a beautiful pink flower with the stem of a purple flower just as beautiful. The intertwined flowers, rested between the right thumb and right forefinger as he pushed, with his left hand, a loose tendril of hair out of her face. Her breath caught, her lips partly open, her eyes stared intently on his, and her chest heaved as she struggled to breath. Dear lord, she thought, he had barely just turned the charm unto her and she was becoming putty to be molded beneath his strong hands.

"I'm sorry, for misleading you," He apologized in a low voice that could be described as seductive. "Will you forgive me?"

She nodded mutely. He smiled as he placed the intertwined flowers behind her ear and in order for the flowers to stay stationary, through a few strands of her hair. The last chords of a song could be heard, if she had been paying attention. She could have spent the rest of the night staring into his deep brown eyes, but she was startled back to reality, by one voice she wished she never would hear again. Dave slowly retracted his hand from her hair and took one small step away from her.

"Penny!" Kevin Lynch exclaimed as he and his date stopped a foot or so away from her and Dave. Kevin extended his right hand to Dave in which Dave took and shook, "Agent Rossi, thank you for inviting us. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, but we must go. My sweetness and myself have an early morning tomorrow."

Penelope mentally gagged, but she forced a smile and politely said goodbye to both Kevin and Kevin's unnamed sweetness; Penelope had no desire learning the harlot's name. Once the pair was gone, Dave turned to look at Penelope and said, "Kitten, sheathe your claws, their gone."

She sputtered and suddenly remembered her earlier anger at him for inviting her ex in the first place. Her eyes sparkled with rage and her body tensed in fury. However, that rage and fury was squelched when he extended his hand, palm upward, and asked, "Would you like to dance?"

She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Her emotions had been all over the place tonight, yet in the last few moments, she had been happy, sad, aroused, angry, furious, and depressed. As she took his proffered hand, she was in a state of hopeful depression. She was sad, but she held hope that she would overcome that sadness.

She pouted her bright pink lips as they begun to dance. The song was a slow ballad declaring the beauty of love. They danced for almost a minute, before she broke the silence.

"I hate love," She whimpered as snuggled closer into his chest.

He tightened his embrace and slowed the sway of the dance almost to a stalling halt. With his right hand, he smoothed her hair out of her face, and blindly caressed her cheek. She murmured something that he could not clearly hear. They swayed back and forth for several seconds, neither moving their feet, instead holding unto the other, savoring the human contact. H

"Kitten, don't give up on love. It's there waiting on you, for the right moment." He murmured against her hair as he subtly brought her closer. He brought his right hand up and smoothed the back of her hair slowly before returning to her waist. "You just have to be open to it."

"I don't know if I can, though," She whispered. He winced when he heard both the pain and tears in her voice. She took a shaky breath and continued even quieter. He strained to hear her. The music not loud, but loud enough to almost conceal what she said, "It hurts to think about moving on. I always thought that having a broken heart was a phrase someone used when they were extremely sad, but it is so much more than that. My heart is broken and it hurts so badly."

"Penelope," He whispered in her ear, blinking his own tears away, though one stray tear rebelled and fell, trailing down his cheek, and landing on her shoulder. Hearing her pain, feeling the shuddering of her body, because of that pain, hurt him. He sighed, before he perceptively promised, "Broken hearts can survive; it's the loving again that is hard."

After all, he would know.

He had broken hearts and he had his broken several times, yet he was still able to fall in love and continue to love the oblivious woman in his arms.

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**Author's note**: This one shot was written for SunnyInOregon, because she rocks. The JJ/Hotch and Will/Anderson were slipped in for jekkah, because she, too, rocks! The Morgan/Strauss slipped in for pandorabox82, who, also rocks. Furthermore, YOU rock for simply reading any of my work.


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